ICOS announces Q4 and fiscal year 2002 results

ICOS Vision Systems Corporation NV (Nasdaq and Nasdaq Europe: IVIS) announced results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2002. Beginning with the fourth quarter of 2002, ICOS is reporting its financial results in Euro rather than dollars. A review of the quarterly financial statements for fiscal years 2001 and 2002 presented in Euro is available in the investor relations section of the company's web site at www.icos.be. Revenues for the three months ended December 31, 2002 were 8.66 million Euro compared to third quarter revenues of 8.62 million Euro, and more than double the 3.67 million Euro reported in the fourth quarter of 2001. Income from operations for the fourth quarter of 2002 was 427,000 Euro, representing a nearly fourfold gain over the third quarter operating profit of 105,000 Euro. For the fourth quarter of 2001, the company reported an operating loss of 1.87 million Euro. The net loss for the fourth quarter of 2002 was 0.93 million Euro, or 0.09 Euro per share, compared to a net loss of 1.22 million Euro, or 0.12 Euro per share, for the same quarter last year. Included in the net loss for the fourth quarter of 2002 is a 0.7 million one time non cash charge, primarily arising from a lower corporate tax rate in Belgium and a 0.76 million pre-tax foreign currency exchange loss. Revenues for 2002 were 30.6 million Euro compared to 26.5 million Euro in 2001, an increase of 15%. On a dollar basis, revenues for 2002 grew 22% over 2001. Loss from operations in 2002 was 325,000 Euro compared to a loss from operations of 13.7 million Euro in 2001. The net loss for 2002 was 2.4 million Euro, or 0.23 Euro per share, compared to a net loss of 8.7 million Euro, or 0.83 Euro per share, in 2001. The company ended the year with 25.9 million Euro in cash and cash equivalents and generated 1.4 million Euro in net cash from operating activities during the year. For the full year 2002, board level products accounted for approximately 15% of revenues, while system level products and inspection machines accounted for 14% and 71% of revenues, respectively. On a geographic basis, Europe represented 26% of revenues, Japan 20%, Singapore 8%, other parts of Asia 41%, and the United States 5%. "During the fourth quarter, ICOS continued to perform well under very difficult market conditions, with revenues up slightly and operating profit increasing substantially over the third quarter," said Anton DeProft, ICOS' president and chief executive officer. "It also marked the third consecutive quarter of operating profits. With our cost structure in line with current market conditions, we generated nearly 700,000 Euro net cash from operations." Mr. DeProft added, "ICOS has proven to be a resilient company in 2002. Even though capital spending remained soft, we enlarged our customer basis substantially and are now selling to all the major integrated device manufacturers and subcontractors. At the same time, we established a dominant market leadership position in the tray based component inspection market, and expanded our addressable market through new product introductions, investing nearly 22% of revenues on research and development. As a result, we ended the year in a stronger competitive position and prepared for growth once the investment cycle in the semiconductor industry resumes." "Nevertheless, spending patterns remain difficult to predict in light of ongoing global economic weakness and political instability. We expect revenues in the first quarter will remain flat relative to the fourth quarter. At this level of revenue, we also expect to remain profitable on an operating income basis and, excluding any foreign currency exchange loss, to generate a net profit." ICOS is a leading worldwide developer and supplier of inspection equipment, primarily for the semiconductor packaging industry. The company believes to have the most comprehensive line of 2D and 3D inspection solutions for its target markets. ICOS has three product lines: its stand-alone inspection equipment performs the final outgoing inspection and taping of various types of semiconductor components and its board-level and system level OEM inspection systems are integrated at various stages of the semiconductor packaging process and in the electronic assembly equipment. ICOS' headquarters are located in Heverlee, Belgium and it has R&D centers in Belgium, Germany and Hong Kong and sales and support offices in Japan, the USA, Singapore and Hong Kong.